BioMar veteran Niels Alsted retires

Alsted was the Executive Vice President of Business Relations in BioMar and has retired after 45 years of service in the aquaculture industry.

“Niels has been one of the most important people forming not only BioMar but also the industry. His dedication to developing a sustainable and professional aquaculture has led to industry standards and the high-end feed ranges we see in the market. Furthermore, he has been one of the most important people forming the culture in BioMar: A culture built upon trust, relationships, professionalism and a desire to pioneer the future of the industry,” said Carlos Diaz, CEO BioMar Group.

Niels Alsted and delegation at Dae-Han feed factory in South Korean 1989

Niels’ career started in 1974 on a small trout farm in Denmark before beginning his studies in aquaculture research at the University of Tromsoe, Institute of Fisheries in 1977 in Norway. He stayed in academic research for several years and was an associate professor at Aalborg University when he accepted to undertake his commercial PhD with BioMar in 1987.

Over the last 32 years Niels has held various positions in BioMar from R&D, sourcing, food safety and business relations and has been part of the executive management team in BioMar Group where he contributed to opening new markets like Chile and China. The press release said that Niels is valued for his “broad and deep technical knowledge” and while at the company has published several papers on nutrition and sustainability. He also helped to create the first ever declared environmentally aquaculture feed product, Ecoline.

Niels represented the aquaculture industry and BioMar at numerous NGO events and been a member of various industry committees most recently chairing the Board of FEFAC and both the GSI feed task force and IFFO RS.

“I am very grateful to BioMar, I have seen most of the world meeting fantastic people and really enjoying my work in the aquaculture industry. I simply could not ask for more,” concluded Alsted who now looks forward to spending more time with the family, but has not closed the door on potentially doing more aquaculture related projects.